CrankBrothers iodine 3 stem and iodine 11 bars review

The aluminum stem is stiff, well-made and has a unique stem clamp, and has an assortment of hidden technologies and features. The carbon handlebars are light, strong, with a nice resiliency and feel, and have an optimal rise, and come in several extended All Mountain widths. Crank Brothers has been realigning their product suite, and they have divided it up into collections (cobalt-Cross Country, iodine-All Mountain, sage-Freeride and opium-Downhill), and then levels within each product line (11-Best, 3-Better, 2-Good, 1-Entry), except for the pedals, which are only categorized by their numerical level.

iodine 3 stem
The All Mountain iodine 3 stem is made with 7075 aluminum, with a carbon faceplate and a unique aluminum plunger for the steerer clamp. The innovative plunger system uses a single Torx bolt at the steerer, which pushes out in a uniform manner, giving a cleaner surface area and a more distributed load, and allows a much higher torque setting. The stem has a 6° rise (+/-), 45mm clamp height, and comes in 65mm, 80mm, 90mm, and 100mm lengths, weighs 158 grams (100mm), and retails for $130.

Impressions
The iodine 3 stems are plenty stiff, and I never felt any flex coming from the 80mm test unit. Installation for the bars was pretty straight forward, and the wide four bolt carbon faceplate with Torx heads offered a smooth and even surface for clamping things down. The steerer clamp plunger system was a joy to use, and it made slipping the stem onto the fork easy, and the tightening simple. You need a T25 Torx key to tighten the single bolt on the plunger, which clamped down effortlessly onto the steerer, and provided a creak free and tight fit. It kept the rear of the stem tidy and neat, without anything to catch a knee on. The carbon faceplate and the steerer plunger, reduce weight and give a clutter-free design, and the wide faceplate and rectangular profile provide excellent stiffness. I really liked only needing one T25 tool to tighten everything on the stem, outside of the cap bolt, which I ended replacing with a Torx head.One tool type simplified things when setting up the stem and adding bars, although on shorter stems, the Torx wrench handles can bump into the bars when adjusting the rear bolt.

Measured Specs (80mm):

• Weight - 147.9 grams
• Clamp height - 47mm
• Length - 81mm
• Faceplate width - 50mm

Pros:

• Stiff
• Wide carbon faceplate
• Rectangular profile
• Light
• Trick and innovative steerer clamp

Cons:

• Sort of odd graphics
• Torx wrench handle can bump into bars when tightening rear

Overall Rating: 4.5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers



iodine 3 stem specs:

• Visit the CrankBrothers iodine 3 stem website
• Weight - 158g (100MM)
• Material - 7075 aluminum
• Plunger material - aluminum
• Faceplate material - carbon
• Bar clamp - 31.8mm
• Lengths - 65mm - 100mm
• Rise - 6°
• Color - iron/black
• Warranty - 5 years
• MSRP - $130 / €130

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iodine 11 bars
The iodine 11 handlebars are made with high modulus uni-directional carbon fiber, have a 30mm rise, 31.8mm clamping diameter and 5° upward sweep. It comes in several width options, a 680mm with a 6° back sweep, and 700mm, 740mm and 780mm with 9° back sweep. They come in carbon black, weigh in at 178 grams (700mm), and retail for $120. The stem clamp section has a functional grip tape strip for anti-slippage, and markings for cuttings and component angling.

Impressions
The top of the line iodine 11 carbon bars are quite nice looking, as they are subtle, with quiet and subdued graphics. Installation was nice with the anti-slippage grip tape, and once the bars were clamped down; they never moved, though the tape was too thick on initial insertion into the stem. After sliding the brake and shifters onto the bars, there was a useful set of tick marks to get those components evenly angled. Depending on the bar width, there are cutting marks every 20mm at the bar ends to shorten them down to 680mm. The 740mm test bars had a nice resiliency, and did a good job of damping vibrations, especially during forays into rock gardens and when going downhill. I found that they had a bit too much give for my taste during uphill maneuvering, during climbs, technical trial type movements, and anytime you were moving slower and were torquing the bars hard. It made for a loss of control, and precision steering, and I felt as though I lost laser-like accuracy. I think they would be a better candidate for a bike with 3-4 inches of suspension, and not the typical All Mountain beasts? They are a good set of bars, with great damping properties, an excellent price, but have a slight flex or give when pushed hard, although the 740mm test width might have exacerbated the issue?

Measured Specs (740mm):

• Weight - 219.8 grams
• Length - 744mm

Pros:

• Good pricepoint
• Great damping
• Nice width spectrum
• Tick marks to angle brake/shifters and cut ends

Cons:

• Slight flex when torqued hard - may be an issue with the wider versions?
• Stem clamp grip tape too thick

Overall Rating: 3.5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers



iodine 11 handlebar specs:

• Visit the CrankBrothers iodine 11 stem website
• Weight - 178 grams
• Material - high modulus carbon
• Rise - 30mm
• Width 680mm w/ 6º back sweep, 700mm, 740mm and 780mm w/ 9º back sweep
• Up sweep - 5º
• Back sweep - 6º and 9º
• Bar clamp - 31.8mm
• Color - carbon
• Warranty 2 years
• MSRP - $120 / €120